60 BCBusiness MOnth Year Photo Credit
squeamish about selling other brands). But
above all else, what he wanted was to insti-
tute a more open corporate culture—some-
thing that he passionately believes his new
company embodies.
"Our culture at Leavitt is one where we're
all concerned about the company and the
bottom line—and most people who come
from other businesses, they have no idea
about profitability, they have no idea about
how much equity is in the business, how
much debt, they have no idea what the net
profit after tax is," says the 58-year-old father
of five. "There are so many things they don't
know, and we share that with all our top guys
so that everybody knows what's happening
financially within the company."
That culture of transparency appears
to be paying off. Since 2001, revenues have
increased almost five-fold, with projected
sales of $300 million in 2014. One of the
things that has allowed Leavitt to grow, in
economic times both good and bad, is an
innovative approach to fleet management—in
essence, moving beyond just selling forklifts
to managing all aspects of a client's materi-
als handling. "If you own a sawmill, I supply
all the forklifts and all the maintenance,"
explains Leavitt. "I guarantee the repair
time and the uptime, and swap out machines
when they get older. I fix your operating
costs."
Leavitt's operations remain anchored in
Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest,
but the
CEO (and 100 per cent owner) says
the company is "evolving away from a model
that's constrained by territory," with a bur-
geoning e-commerce business that trades in
everything from new and used equipment to
parts. "Last year we picked up $20 million in
online sales from new customers who came
to us unsolicited," he notes.
The move to diversify will become
increasingly important as the Alberta
economy—which represents almost 60 per
cent of his business—eventually, and inevita-
bly, slows. "Fort McMurray, Edmonton: that
part of the country is driving everything in
Canada, and if that were to implode—if the
price of oil were to come down—that would
have a marked effect over a two- or three-
year period on our company. But we're grow-
ing outside of Canada, and our plan is to keep
doing that." —Matt O'Grady
60 BCBusiness OctOber 2014 PhOtO credit
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